Combined driving and steering mechanism.



A. E. MINIUIVI. COMBINED DRIVING AND STEERING MECHANISM.

` APPLICATION FILED MAY I2. I9I6. ,265,35

Patented May 7,1918.

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witness riff I IVHNIUM. COMBI DRIV ND S ING HANISNI.

Llc/mon FILED 12,

l,265,358. Patented May 7,1918.

rS-SHET 2.

2 SHEE ABRAM EMERSON MINUM,

0F DENVER, COLORADO.

' COMBNEID DRIVING LND STEERING MECHASI'SM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May t', il9f8.

appiicatioa area nay 1a, 191e. serial ivo. 97,144..

To all whom t may concern Be it known that l', ABRAM EMERSON MINIUM, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and in the county of Deliver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Driving and Steering Mechanism; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is for improvements in driving and guiding mechanism for rotary propelling bodies, and is more particularly applicable to the propellers of aerial and submersible submarine craft, Where effective dirigibility must provide for vertical deviations of course, at varying angles and curves, as well as lateral steering. l

"Without going into unnecessary details at the beginning, it is believed that the utility, objects and advantages of the invention will fully appear from the following description, the same consisting of the structural arrangement and combination of elements, which will now be described, the essential features of novelty being more succinctly stated in the appended claims.

In the specification, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which drawings like characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure l, is a vertical sectional view taken axially of the mechanism, the parts being in Jtheir normal positions, with the driving gears shown in edge elevation, and the segmental rack and pinion steering elements shown in section.

Fig. 2, is a central vertical transverse sectional view through the spherical casing, taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5, are cross-sectional views on the lines 3 3, 4 4, and 5 5, respectively, and looking in the directions of the arrows.

Fig. 6, is a plan view of a propeller in the position it would be thrown in steering to the right Fig. 7, is a similar view to Fig. 6, showing the reverse position of the propeller, steering to the left, and.

Fig. 8, is a plan view of the propeller, but with the hub spindle thereof disposed at an inclination substantially 45 from both central vertical and horizontal planes, when the course would be in a combined vertical and lateral direction.

If Fig. 6 be viewed as a side elevational view, it shows the position of the propeller, when a dipping or diving course is being pursued, and Fig. 7, similarly viewed shows a reversal of the course in an ascending direction. Fig. 8 simply illustrates one of the variable steering positions between the eX- tremes in a. combined lateral and vertical course.

lt will be understood that any number and arrangement of propellers may be einployed, but my invention being for a mechanism local to the propeller itself, l have simply shown it in unitary relation.

l designates the driving shaft, suitably coupled to the motive power in any well known way, designated conventionally by a shaft coupling 2. rlhe driving shaft is preferably hollow, and may form part of a lubricating system, not shown.

3 is a hollow steering shaft for swinging the pivotal support for the hub spindle, and 4 is a similar hollow shifting shaft for bodily rotating the support to which the hub spindle support is pivoted, all of which will be more fully set forth.

The hollow shaft 3 envelops the driving shaft l, and the hollow shaft 4 encompasses the shaft 3, the shaft 4 in turn being contained and ournaled in a bearing sleeve 5, held against rotation in any suitable way, shown simply by the projecting parts 6, provided with bolt holes for securing purposes.

The several shafts are arranged in selfcontained stepped relation, the outer ends of the shafts 3 and 4 being provided with controlling means, such as' the rack 7 and pinion 8 for the shaft 3, and the worm wheel 9 and worm 10 for the shaft 4, operated from any suitable station. Manifestly other. suitable well known controlling means may be used and would be equivalent.

lNhere desired, anti-friction means may be provided between the several shafts, respectively, and the bearing sleeve, and the spaces between the shafts may be suitably packed, but as these are obvious expediente, l have simply illustrated roller bearings 1l in a wholly conventional way.

12 designates a forked member or support, forming a part of an open knuckle joint,

the other member 13 of which is of substantially similar construction and provides a pivotal journal bearing for the hub spindle.

It is obvious that these open or forked members 12 and 13 may be of varying contour, whether rectangular' or otherwise, provided that suiiicient space is provided within the open knuckle joint to seat certain elements, as will presently appear.

The members 12 and 13, however, are preferably semi-cylindrical arms, recessed at their ends to form an overlapping joinder, the abutting portions lllof the curved arms being struck at a proper arc to enable the member 13 to swing on an axis pin 15 hinging the two arms centrally, which axis pin is disposed in radial' alineinent with the propeller blades, for important reasons hereinafter referred to.

The details of securing this axis pin, however, are not materially important, the pin being shown simply as having a countersunk head, and a threaded end engagedby a counter-sunk nut 1G for eective neatness.A It will be understood, however, that the arms 12 aresufiiciently rigid to prevent the axis pin 15 from causing them to bind the semi-circular arms 13, which are free to swing on the axis pin, under proper control.

rlhe arms 12 are rigidly mounted fast on the inner end of Athe tubular shaft 4, and are preferably provided with an annular nipple or rim 17. l

The pivotal member 13 is provided axially with a cylindrical boss 13, bored to journal the hub spindle 19, which may be squared at its outer end-20 to support the hub 21, which may be hollow and of substantially senii-splierical contour, provided with radial studs or projections 22, representing spokes or supports for propeller blades 23. The solid central portion of the hub is apertured to fit over the squared end 20 of the hub spindle, and may be held fast thereon by any suitable means,` as by a lock nut 24. This central portion of the hub may also be properly recessed to house the` cylindrical boss 18.

Mountedfast on the inner end of the hub spindle is a bevely gear 25, meshing with a. bevel pinion 26,-loosely journaled on thefaxis pin 15, and in turn.l meshing, as an intermediate gear, withl av bevel gear 27, fastonthefinner end of the tubular driving.

tween the circular rack element and the loose bevel pinion 26, freely encompassing the axis pin 15 which is rigidly fixed.

The-contour of the inner' surfaces of the members 12 and 13, and the outer surfaces ofthe inclosed circular rack and pinion elements are such that snug seating is attained.

@n the rim or collar 17 is fixedly seated a similar collar 31 of ashell member 32,-

of segmental globular structure, cooperating with an. oppositely disposedv substantially similar shell member 33`,.of slightly greater.v diameter, and provided with a projecting.:

sleeve 311, loosely. mounted on the. cylindricalboss 1S between the latter and the recessed Vsolidcentralportion of the hub 21;

These two shell sections are assembled in overlapped relation to form an effective spherical casing or housing, to protect the interior' mechanism aga-inst accident, and from being clogged up by mud or other fOreigiisubStanCeS, but the member 33l is free to roll or t-urn in all directions relatively to the member 32, with the latter as a bearing, after the fashion of a universal joint of the ball and socket type.

ln order that the shifting of the hub to varying. positions will not displace the spherical housing sections suiiiciently to partially separatev them, kand to more positively holdthem in such universal articulated relation, thefshell 33-may be profitably provided` withy a supplementary ring sectionv 35,.- following thev spherical curvature ofthe section33, and this auxiliary member may be secured'to the shell 33 in anysuitable way, such asbythe-integral annular flanges It may be noted that the axis pin 15A is located intermediate of the bevel gears 25 and'27, being-disposed at right angles to the spaced ends ofy the hub spindle andl driving shaft, and 'always lies in a plane coincident with the plane of rotation' of the propeller blades, inwhatever position they may be rotated. The axis pin is also loca-tedI interiorly or centrally within the-periphery of the propeller blades, as contradist-in-v guished to an axis pin located outside of the periphery.

From thedrawings and the foregoing. de-

scription, the operation ofthe mechanism is fairly apparent, but it may be said that the `axispin l-may'be set at vany effective l and 7, when viewed as plan views.

angular position, within its axial plane, and held in that position, it being supported by the member l2, fixed to the hollow shaft 4 controlled by the worm gearing 9-10. Hence the propeller may be operated not only to ysteer to the right or left, or up and down, but also in a combined relation both laterally and vertically at varying angles, one position of the propeller for steering in such combined relation being shown in Fig. 8, wherein the vessels course would be substantially upwardly and to the right.

As shown in Fig. l, the axis pin is disposed vertically. Tn that position, to steer to the right or left, the propeller may be moved to varying vertical planes, between the positions substantially shown in Figs. 6 This is accomplished by the rack and pinion 7 8, controlling the steering shaft 3, which carriesy the pinion 28, meshing with the circular rack element 29, fixed to the member 13, carrying the hub spindle 19 and the housing section 83, the hub spindle gear 25 rolling idly around the bevel pinion 26, and the concave surfaces of the housing section 83 and 35 moving around over the convex surface of the section 32, with the free sliding movement of a ball and socket articulation. This obviously does not interfere with the propelling mechanism, including the driving shaft l, its bevel gear 27, pinion 26, and the hub bevel gear 25, which gears and intermediate pinion are always in mesh.

Vhen it is desiredto steer in an ascending or descending course, at varying inclinations, the worm wheel 9 is operated to turn the axis pin l5 a quarter revolution, to the right or left as desired, in its own axial plane, or at right angles to the shafting, when the axis pin will be disposed horizontally, and the steering elements 7 8 may be operated, as before described, to shift the propeller bodily in a vertical arc, at varying angles between those indicated by Figs. 6 and 7, when viewed as side elevational. views, to cause the vessel to dive or rise, respectively.

At all of the positions at which the axis pin is set, it will be observed that the plane, containing the axial lines of the propeller' blades. is always coincident with a plane passing through the axis pin, so that in operating the steering shaft 3, and its elements, the plane containing the propeller blades turns on its own diametral axis, coincident with the axis pin, and hence there is no lost motion, as would be the case where the propeller was swung around bodily on a pivot outside of or distant from the plane containing the blades. Tt is believed to be manifest that, by this particular arrangement, steering is made much easier, as less power is required to be applied at the Steering wheel.

This arrangement also permits of the thrust of the propeller being directed forwardly of the axis pin or on the parts in advance of same, in any position of the propeller, and not on the hub spindle, when swung out of direct axial line with the driving shaft, thus preventing undue strains on the gears and supporting parts, which is obviously important.

Also in marine navigation, it may be noted as an advantage that, where a vessel is grounded, bow on for instance, the propelleil may be adjusted, so that power may be applied to pull down on the stern at any angle, thus tending to elevate the bow while backing off.

T am aware of the fact that the mere form and arrangement of the gears 25, 26 and 27, are not in themselves new, and I make no distinct claimsto them alone, and in fact my invention is not limited to the precise details shown and described, but is intended to cover a full range of equivalents as reasonably come within the scope of the ensuing claims.

Having thus described a practical embodiment of my invention, however, what I do claim is l. Operating mechanism for propellers, including driving and steering shafts mounted in self contained relation, a tubular shifting shaft surrounding same, and means for separately operating said shafts, in combination with an inner forked member fixed to said shifting shaft, and an oppositely disposed similarly forked outer member, the adjacent project-ing ends of which members are pivotally connected to each other; a hub spindle journaled by said outer member; a propeller mounted on said hub spindle; a segmental rack interiorly fixed to said outer member; a pinion element meshing with said rack, and fixedly secured to said steering shaft interiorly of said members; and universally operating connections between said driving shaft and hub spindle, substantially as described.

2. Operating mechanism for propellers, including a driving shaft, a tubular shifting shaft, an intermediate tubular steering shaft, and operating means therefor, in combination with an inner semi-circular support affixed to said shifting shaft, and an oppositely disposed similar outer support, the adjacent ends of which supports overlap and are pivotally connected to each other; a hub spindle journaled by said outer support; a propeller mounted on said hub spindle; a segmental rack interiorly xed to said outer support; a concavo-convex pinion element meshing' with said rack and afxed to said steering shaft, with its convex face contiguous to the linner surface of said inner support; a convex-backed bevel gear fitting within the concave face of said pinion element and' affixed to saidl driving shaft; a

beve-l gear' aiixed to said-'hub spindle; and] an intermediate*idle-bevel gear meshing withy said aforesaid gears, substantially as' described.

Operating meansl 'for pro pellers, includ-y ing adriving shaft'` a tubular shifting'shaft, an intermediate tubular steering shaft, and

rotating' means therefor, in combination yWithv an inner forked member Xed t'osaid sliiftingshaft, andl an oppositely disposed similarly forked outer member, the adj acente'nds of which overlap and arep'ivota-lly connected to each other; a hub spindle journaled by' saidlouter members; a propeller*mountedon said hub spindle; a segmental racliaffix'edto the' interior of said outerI member; -a pinion element meshing' with said rack and aiiiXed to vsaid steering 'shaft interiorly of said members; universally operating connections'be'- tween said drivingshaft and hub' spindle;

and a segmentally formed globular housing` completely incasing said 'forked members; the open' ends of the segments thereof overlapping in closed sliding relation, with the" inner segment iXed to and-rotatable With said sl'iifting shaft only, While the outer segment is carried by said outer forked'memb'er'and freely movable therewith' in" all directions, substantially as described.

4. In operating mechanism forpropelle'rs, the' combination off a' driving shaft; an inner fbrkecb sdp'port' rotatably mounted' adjacent.

tlie in'i'ijerA end of' said1 shaft; 'f anV oppositely' disposed similarly" forked outer support, having-rits' projecting endsl'ocated in overlapped relationE with' tli'e complementary endsv 0f p'letely incasing said forked supports and contained mechanism, the openends of the segments thereof oi'ierlappmg in clos'edfslidf ing-relation, fuiic'tioi'iingas aball and `socket articulation, and' the' outer: segment4 being carried by said outer f ork'e'dfsupport, being freely' inovablethereivith ina'll directions; and a propellehub velementmounted on said liub'spiiidle andjsupp'orting the plane ofits propelling-bladesin axial alineinent With said pivoting n'ieans,v substantially as described. 'I

In testimonywhereof, I affix my signature;

ABRAM EMERSON MINIUM.

Copies /of this vpatelrtmay beobtain'edfor ve ce'nts each, by addressfngthe' Commissioner of Patents, 

